Day 26 ... NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day

Welcome to Day 26, everyone. Amazing how April seems to be moving so quickly, don't you think? Today's first prompt comes from Maureen Thorson: an elegy or anti-elegy. Catherine's poem for Day 26, while not strictly an elegy, certainly leans toward the elegiac. Heartache Sitting on a yellow polka-dot cushion I listen as the pit in my heart unfolds to the surface like an accordion, bellowing out a blue tune, in and out of itself like a well-traveled road map. —Draft by Catherine Pritchard Childress     [do not copy or quote ... thanks] Wonderful small poem, like a jewel — I particularly like the accordion image, Catherine, how the wants and lacks of our lives enlarge and diminish, ebb and flow. So true to the experiences of many, I would suggest. Getting back to prompts, Robert Lee Brewer suggests an animal poem. And Andrea Boltwood says: "Write a pocket poem to carry in your pocket today." I like that last prompt quite a lot. According to the Academy of American Poets, today is "national poem in your pocket" day. For a moment, though, let's depart from our usual order and announce our featured NaPoWriMo site for Day 26 now: Griffin Lit. This wiki is a NaPoWriMo project by sixth graders: Ms. Danielle Filas's Language Art 6 class in Village Academy Schools in Powell, Ohio. Ms. Filas told me via e-mail: "I am so excited for them. They have been absolutely fearless in their poetry making!" Yes, indeed they are, and they have been staying on schedule. Check out their lovely poems, friends. If you'd like to say something to the Griffin Lit sixth graders and Ms. Filas about their poems, please leave a comment to this blog post below; they will be checking back here to see if anyone has responded. There is NO way to leave a comment on their site unless you join their wiki. So comment away here, gentle readers! In honor of their brave venture, I've written the following "pocket poem" for the Griffin Lit kids. This poem is in the hay(na)ku form, which we've seen quite a lot this month: first line, one word — second line, two words — third line, three words. Blue Bravura — for the Griffin Lit sixth graders and Ms. Filas poems like gems in my pocket gleam and glisten in the dark glowing always with their blue light saying hey you pay close attention bluebirds blueberries sky blue blue blue blue egyptian jewels sapphire tanzanite turquoise blue lapis lazuli azurite aquamarine topaz blue jade dragon breathing carnelian flames blue steel blades crocodile kampilan swords blues blazing rock guitar bass timbales blue prophecies ballads in yours mine our blue pockets brilliant breathtaking words —Draft by Vince Gotera     [do not copy or quote ... thanks] Okay, that's it for today. Go write a poem. Or carry a poem in your pocket, not just today, but till the end of April. And beyond, even. Leave me a comment below, all right? Especially, a shout-out to the Griffin Lit sixth graders? Ingat. Added 4/27/12: For people who are posting comments to the Village Academy Schools sixth graders: you can address the students and Ms. Filas directly here. No need to filter your comments through me. Thanks! POEM-A-DAY 2012 • Pick a day in April: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30